1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to shift handle structures and equipping methods and, more particularly, to handles adapted to be attached to, or forming part of, a shift lever of a transmission having multiple shift ranges which may be pneumatically selected.
2. Disclosure Statement
This Disclosure Statement is made pursuant to the duty of disclosure imposed by law and formulated in 37 CFR 1.56(a) without any prior art admission on the part of applicant.
Multiple shift range transmissions of the type employed in trucks and other vehicles frequently employ a pneumatic shift range selector sitting on top of a shift lever and having a range selector lever on the periphery thereof.
The shift range selector, sitting on top of the shift lever, is generally intended by its manufacturer as a handle for the shift lever as well. This engenders problems in practice, since the primary function of the shift range selector is, of course, to permit a manual selection among a number of different transmission speed settings which can go as high as a dozen or more settings. This not only dictates a disk-like shape for the shift range selector, but also a choice of materials which tend to get hot, particularly in a road-driven vehicle. It was thus difficult for the driver or operator to get a good, solid grip on the shift lever structure.
Against this background, an improvement was presented by G. S. Brown in his U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,009, issued Mar. 2, 1976, for a shift lever handle, and herewith incorporated by reference herein. A drawback of that proposal was that it required a displacement of the shift range selector at a distance from the top and from the side of the shift lever. This, in turn, necessitated a displacement and sometimes a disturbance of the pneumatic lines or air tubes, which practically have to be pulled out of the floorboard of the truck or similar vehicle. Often, the lines 42 shown in that prior proposal where crimped and ruptured during attempts to install the handle structure 22 and replace the selector 34 as shown in that proposal.